Need help choosing a 49" Ultrawide (3 choices)

[Poita]

I want to buy a 49” Ultrawide monitor to use for general productivity. I watch videos and play the occasional game but mostly do work so prioritise productivity over entertainment.
It would be great if I could get some advice on the best option from the three I’m looking at. Especially as there is a £300 difference in price.

I guess brightness and picture quality (pixel density/pitch) would be a differentiation point.
Could I get some views and reasoning as to which one to choose? If they are all about the same I would save money and go for the Philips but if the slightly more expensive one’s are way better I would go for one of those.

- Nits ( Dell 350 cd/M2, Philips 450 cd/m2, Samsung 600 cd/m2) do the differences here mean much?

- pixel density (Philips is 109 PPI but not sure about other two) Is pixel density important?

- Pixel Pitch (Dell is 0.234 x 0.234 but not sure of other two)

Philips 499P9H: £895

Samsung C49RG90: (Seems to be called just CRG9 in USA – is there a difference?) £1,110

Dell Ultrasharp U4919DW: £1,168

 

[Iratus]

The curve radius is another thing to factor in. The dells is much less pronounced. This may or may not be a good thing for you (but landed it for me because of my desk setup)

 

[Poita]

The curve radius is another thing to factor in. The dells is much less pronounced. This may or may not be a good thing for you (but landed it for me because of my desk setup)

Yeah, the problem is I won't know until I sit in front of each one and I don't see any way to do that before I buy.
On the one hand I might find one that wraps around me a bit too claustrophobic or oen that doesn't curve enough a pain if I have to lean left and right to read documents.
I've had two side by side Dell 27" ultra sharps for about four years and they have been rock solid but a bit dull design wise.

 

[thegrinch]

FWIW, I picked up the CRG9 about a week ago after contemplating the others you were and REALLY like it. Coming from triple 16x9 and never owned an ultrawide before. I really like it and can't find myself going multiple monitors again. Regarding the curvature - when I opened it up, I thought it was too curved, but when sitting in front of it (about 18-20" away), it's perfect. If it was less pronounced, I'd feel like it would be more difficult to read things to the far left and right side of the screen; purely subjective though.

 

[dvsman]

Those monitors all look great for productivity but the high resolution and 60hz peak refresh won't be the best for gaming. Have you looked at the warranty on offer (How long? How is it executed?) from each vendor for your country? I'd factor that in.

 

[IdiotInCharge]

- Nits ( Dell 350 cd/M2, Philips 450 cd/m2, Samsung 600 cd/m2) do the differences here mean much?

It does for HDR, but you don't want to use that for productivity yet. HDR on the desktop is at best poorly implemented. For normal usage, 300cd/M2 is about the max you'd want to run, in a bright room.

- pixel density (Philips is 109 PPI but not sure about other two) Is pixel density important?

- Pixel Pitch (Dell is 0.234 x 0.234 but not sure of other two)

These are the same thing, talking about how large the pixels are, and consequently, how many fit in a certain area. The biggest variable is not the size of the pixels themselves, but relative to the size of the display, how far away you'll be siting. You're going to need to get a feel for this yourself, and if the individual pixels are too small, you will likely have to resort to scaling, which does not work uniformly across applications.

Philips 499P9H: £895

Samsung C49RG90: (Seems to be called just CRG9 in USA – is there a difference?) £1,110

Dell Ultrasharp U4919DW: £1,168

Takeaway on the price is less the difference and more that they're all expensive, so it's worth making sure you can return something if it doesn't fit.

I've had two side by side Dell 27" ultra sharps for about four years and they have been rock solid but a bit dull design wise.

Dull is good for the market that Dell caters to

Those monitors all look great for productivity but the high resolution and 60hz peak refresh won't be the best for gaming.

Being spoiled myself with high refresh rate monitors, I can say personally that I don't want to use anything slower than 120Hz, and 240Hz would be a good minimum if it were more available.

However, I also regularly use 60Hz monitors for productivity and gaming. For gaming, the one remaining requirement would be VRR.

With respect to warranties, Dell is likely the best if you actually need service in North America. Philips might be good across the pond, but I can't speak to that.

 

[Poita]

Thanks fellas. Some useful input

I wonder why the Samsung one is called the CRG9 in the USA and C49RG90 here in the UK. Is it the same monitor?